Mockingjay By Bernadette Devlin: Literary Analysis

Bernadette Devlin, an influential political activist, once remarked, “To gain that which is worth having, it may be necessary to lose everything else.” In stating this, Devlin explores a much deeper truth in that one must be willing to sacrifice everything in order to achieve the greater goal. This statement reigns true in both life and literature. Often times, characters lose their family, friends or wealth in the process of achieving their ultimate goals. In the end, however, one must ask themselves if what they are giving up is really worth losing. For example, in the Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins, the main character, Katniss Everdeen, experiences the loss of family and friends in the pursuit of taking down President Snow and the Capitol. Without her

willingness to lead the rebellion, Panem would continue sending children to fight to the death in an arena, strictly for the purpose of entertainment. Similarly, in Divergent by Veronica Roth, the protagonist Tris Prior, leaves behind her friends and family in the Abnegation faction in order to truly discover her full potential. By joining the Dauntless faction, Tris discovers the courage she needs to stop the Erudite faction from overthrowing the Abnegation government. Both Mockingjay and Divergent are examples in literature where a character must first lose everything to achieve the greater good.
In Mockingjay, Katniss resides in an area dominated by a police state totalitarian government, therefore losing everything would equate to giving up her friends, family, and current simple, yet impoverished lifestyle in hopes of obtaining freedom for all of Panem. Katniss lives in a futuristic world divided into twelve districts, where children are chosen to participate in the Hunger Games and fight to their death; however, Katniss starts a movement when she takes the place of her younger sister, Primrose, in the games. Since Katniss is from District 12, one of the poorest sections in Panem, she stands little to no chance against those from District 1, who are trained in combat from a young age. A few years pass after she and her partner, Peeta Mellark, became the first dual victors of the Hunger Games, the Capitol puts previous victors back into the games, which in turn leads to the revolt of the victors, many of which are captured by the Capitol, including Katniss’ love, Peeta. While being held captive, Peeta is not only tortured, but his memories of Katniss are replaced with distorted ones, portraying her as the enemy. When Katniss realizes she may lose the love of her life, she states “Not only does he hate me and want to kill me, he no longer believes I’m human. It was less painful being strangled” (Collins 191). In saying this, it becomes obvious of the strong attachment Katniss feels towards Peeta in that physical harm would be less painful than emotional hardship she endures in the process. Then something happens that changes her entire world: the death of her sister. Just as Katniss is about to kill President snow, she looks up “because for just a moment, [Prim] catches sight of me, her lips form my name. And that’s when the rest of the parachutes go off” (Collins 347). For the duration of the rebellion, Katniss blames herself for the death of many innocent people and wonders if her plot to overthrow President Snow is really worth the damage caused. She points her arrow at President Snow and watches him fall to the ground, dead. As he lays to rest with the hundreds of others killed in the rebellion, Katniss lets out a sigh of relief.
Despite all the loss Katniss experiences, she finds love where she least expects it and freedom… After President Snow is killed, an honest leader, takes over and the Hunger Games cease to exist.

As Peeta is freed from captivity and Katniss’ trial ends, Peeta begins to question reality from the Capitol’s manipulation. Slowly, Peeta’s memories begin to clear as he asks, “You love me, Real or not Real?” and Katniss replies, “Real” (Collins 388). In the process of fighting for freedom, Katniss almost loses one of the most important people in her life when he was brainwashed into hating her. Only then, did Katniss realize her fondness towards Peeta and that she could never live without him. After all the tragedy in her life, Katniss utters, “What I need is the dandelion in the spring. The bright yellow that means rebirth instead of destruction. The promise that life can go on, no matter how bad our losses. That it can be good again” (Collins 388). Her dandelion is Peeta in that even through the turmoil, he is the one thing she can hold onto. In her rebellion against the Capitol, Katniss learns that freedom has a price to pay, and unfortunately the death of many innocent people, including her sister, is the

consequence.
Similarly, in Divergent, Tris experiences the loss of those who are closest to her in order to find herself and gain a sense of direction in her life. Like Katniss, Tris also lives in a futuristic world controlled by the government, only instead of districts, the people are divided into five factions: Amity, Abnegation, Erudite, Candor, and Dauntless. However, Tris learns she is divergent, meaning she does not fit well in any of the factions. In attempt to keep her divergence hidden, Tris chooses Dauntless, since she never felt selfless enough for Abnegation anyway. Since Tris chose a faction different from the one she was born into, she loses her close connections and relationship with her family. Choosing a new faction meant a complete change in her previous lifestyle; Tris goes from an extremely modest faction that focuses on self-sacrifice to an outrageously wild one that tests her greatest fears. For this reason, when Tris joined the Dauntless, she struggled understanding who she was and who she wanted to be. Upon Dauntless initiation, Tris is forced to compete against other initiates to prove her worthiness. Later in the story, Tris learns of Erudite’s plan to overthrow the Abnegation government by turning Dauntless into a mindless army of killers. However, when the serum is activated, Tris’ divergence allows her and Four, her instructor and love interest, to remain unaffected. Her and Four are able to thwart Erudite's plan, saving everyone but her parents. Speaking of her mother’s death, Tris states, "Eric called Al’s suicide brave, and he was wrong. My mother’s death was brave. I remember how calm she was, how determined. It isn’t just that she died for me; it is brave that she did it without announcing it, without hesitation, and without appearing to consider another option" (Roth 451). While many people believe Tris’ mother’s death was irrational, when compared to Al’s -- a boy who ended his life by jumping into a chasm -- it seems to be a very selfless act. The loss of her mother allows Tris to see a real act of bravery, which in turn convinces her that her actions have not been in vain. Four tries to convince her of this when he states, “Sometimes bravery involves laying down your life for something bigger than yourself, or for someone else. Sometimes it involves giving up everything you have ever known, or everyone you have ever loved, for the sake of something greater” (Roth 480). Tris has come to terms with the fact that she can never bring back her parents or her friends lost in the rebellion because she believes that by stopping Erudite, she saved more lives than those that were taken. In the end, she gains something much greater than her losses: herself.
By taking on a new identity with Dauntless, Tris is able to take on a new identity; a brave woman who is able to conquer her fears. Though she experiences much loss along the way, Tris is able to become a strong, independent woman; someone like her mother, whom she never believed to have anything in common with. Upon realizing her newfound bravery, Tris declares, “I am proud. It will get me into trouble someday, but today it makes me brave. I walk toward the ledge and hear snickers behind me” (Roth 66). Along the way, Tris creates new friendships which continuously test her courage and and allow her to experience life in a way she has never before discovered. The strenuous tasks of the initiates allows her to test her abilities and determine her true strengths and weaknesses. By going through the fear simulator, along with the help of Four, Tris learns how to conquer her deepest fears. In doing so, Tris forms an unbreakable bond with Four, and learns of her undying love for him. When stumbling upon this conclusion, she states, "Then I realize what it is. It's him. Something about him makes me feel like I am about to fall. Or turn to liquid. Or burst into flames.” (Roth 143). Despite her attempts to not be in relationship with her instructor, she recognizes that they each bring out the best in each other by testing themselves in a way that no one else can, Overall, Tris learns that with loss comes a great deal of rewards in the future; choosing Dauntless as her new faction allowed her to gain a sense of direction and her identity by surrounding herself with people similar to her.